RIVERSIDE: Voters could be asked to pass bond to improve schools

But would an election be in June or November? The school board will ponder the pros and cons of each date.

The Riverside school board has two chances in 2016 to ask voters to approve a bond to pay for millions of dollars in upgrades and repairs to aging campuses.

It could seek the June election or the November election.

Although the June election promises a low and more conservative voter turnout, the ballot is less complicated than the November 2016 general election. The fall election will include voting for president and dozens of state initiatives and propositions.

“There are some concerns that our bond measure would be lost on the November ballot,” said Kirk Lewis, the district’s superintendent for operations.

On Tuesday, the Riverside Unified School District board will meet twice: a special 8 a.m. meeting to review the latest study gauging local support for a bond and a 4:30 p.m. meeting in which the board will be asked if it wants to place a $257 million bond measure on the June primary ballot.

The meetings will be in the board room at 6735 Magnolia Ave.

The survey of voters likely to vote in November showed that 70 percent of those polled would “definitely” or “probably” support a school bond.

The level of support is about 6 percent less if the measure appears on the June ballot, according to the study, but still more than the 55 percent needed to pass what is known as a Proposition 39 bond.

Prop. 39 requires that owners be taxed no more than $60 per $100,000 of their property’s assessed valuation and that an oversight committee be formed to monitor bond expenditures.

True North Research, which did the study going to the boardand an earlier survey, recommends that the measure go on the November ballot.